The Nature of the Corporation: A Tale of Economic Complexity

This book is about the modern corporation. It is a tale of complexity, morality, efficiency, and freedom. Our culture is imbued with three myths stemming from our somewhat contradictory beliefs in the invisible hand and optimization by design. The first myth would have us believe that the modern corporation, based on property rights and enforceable contracts, is maximizing wealth and efficiency. The second myth would have us believe that profits and morality are disconnected from each other because they are subject to different constraints. The third myth would have us believe that private property rights over knowledge will deliver unabated economic growth, just as it happened during the industrial revolution. This book presents a bold vision of the modern corporation, one that some might find unsettling, for it calls into question the real implications of human agency, and the very notion of economic efficiency.